"We found a local company that specialized in mixing agricultural waste with plastics to create new materials," he said. "It was doing this with coffee waste from local roasters and we decided to try it."

Although it took about a dozen tries before the process worked, the duo was pleased with the results. Not only was 3D-Fuel able to extrude the coffee-based raw material into filament, "it also smelled so good, like sweet latte," said Schneider.

"The color of it is deep brown with varying shades of brown flecks in it," Schneider said.

What could you make with it?

"It's perfect for printing novelty items like coffee filter holders and sleeves for cups but not a coffee cup itself," he said. "It's still plastic material and not ideal for hot beverages."

Coffee was only the beginning: "It worked out so well for us that we wanted to try other intriguing materials," Schneider said.

Those included beer and hemp. The beer filament, called "Buzzed," is made using waste material from the malting process mixed with plastic. Meanwhile, the 3D hemp filament is called "Entwined" and includes byproduct from industrial hemp crops mixed with plastic.

"Many people have asked us if the beer filament smells like old beer. Luckily it doesn't," he said. "It's pleasant, like freshly-harvested barley."

The smell, however, evaporates once the printing is done. "It's the same thing with the coffee-based material," he said.

Currently, 30% of 3DomFuel's product mix includes filaments made from unusual materials. "We're already experimenting with more materials to grow our offerings of recycled filaments," he said.

Even though coffee, beer and hemp-based filaments cost about 60% to 80% more than the standard plastic filament (with an average price of $49.99 for a 500g spool), Schneider said demand has been robust.

"The word is spreading," he said. "We're seeing double-digit sales for these materials."